Daily Fantasy Baseball: DraftKings Picks For July 10

ByMike Marteny|

Jul 7, 2015; Chicago, IL, USA; The sun peaks through Wrigley Field during game two of a baseball doubleheader between the Chicago Cubs and the St. Louis Cardinals. Mandatory Credit: Caylor Arnold-USA TODAY Sports

With 28 of the 30 teams in the big tournaments tonight, it is important to find all of the information you can to give you a leg up on the competition. These picks are made to maximize value at DraftKings. It is important to note the major differences between DraftKings and FanDuel. They are very different animals.

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The biggest difference is pitching. DK give you twice the value for strikeouts and innings pitched, but also docks you for hit and twice as much for earned runs. You want to find a high strikeout pitcher who doesn’t allow a lot of base runners.

For the hitters, you want to chase homers in DK since they don’t count outs against you. The major difference is that caught stealing will cost you two points. Chasing cheap steals like Billy Hamilton or Dee Gordon are good strategies at FanDuel. Not so much at DraftKings.

For the FanDuel picks, check here.

Let’s get to the DraftKings picks!

Next: Pitchers

Jul 3, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; New York Mets starting pitcher Noah Syndergaard (34) pitches against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the third inning at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

It is also worth noting that you have a higher salary cap at DK, but you must also roster two pitchers. My strategy is to pick one elite guy, and one that might fly under the radar.

There are a lot of good pitchers in action today. Of the 28, eight are averaging a strikeout or more per inning. I am not counting the White Sox’s Carlos Rodon because he is not in the big tournaments. One of those seven, Ervin Santana, has only started one game, so you are essentially left with seven.

Of those seven, Cleveland’s Danny Salazar has an ERA on the wrong side of four. For my purposes, that leaves me with six viable options.

First, the bad news. Two of them, Lance Lynn and Gerritt Cole, have ERA’s under 3. They are facing each other, so there is a great chance that neither walks away with the coveted four points for a win. That said, the Pirates strike out more than St Louis does, so Cole is the better option of the two, and at a $10,000 price tag, he is certainly worth your ace money.

The two highest priced pitchers of the game today are Madison Bumgarner and Cole Hamels. Guess what, they are facing each other as well. MadBum is the better bet here because the Phillie offense is not very good.

Another thing worth noting that that only Seattle’s Mike Montgomery has a better WHIP among tonight’s starters than Bumgarner. He is the most expensive pitcher, but his great chance at a win and his WHIP make him worth his lofty $11,100 price tag.

Why is Montgomery not on this list? Because he is a far better option in FanDuel. Montgomery has only fanned 31 batters in 56 innings. His opponent, Hector Santiago, is a better DK option because he is striking out nearly a batter per inning, and has a the third best WHIP of the night behind Montgomery and Bumgarner.

That leaves two pitchers who don’t cost as much who are striking out a batter per inning with an ERA under four. They are Noah Syndergaard ($8,200) and Michael Pineda ($8,100). Syndergaard is the better option for a couple of reasons. First off, Pineda’s 3.79 ERA and 1.21 WHIP are a little on the high side. Second off, he is facing the red-hot Clay Buchholz and the Red Sox. Thor’s matchup against Arizona and Chase Anderson is a far better option.

For those of you that like to gamble, Ervin Santana had a brilliant outing in his Twins debut. Tonight he gets to take on a Detroit team that is without Miguel Cabrera that is sending the struggling Justin Verlander to the mound. Santana could be a really good pick.

MY PICKS:

Syndergaard and Bumgarner

Next: Hitters?

Jul 1, 2015; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson (20) steps on third base as he rounds the bases after hitting a two-run home run against the Boston Red Sox in the eighth inning at Rogers Centre. The Jays won 11-2. Mandatory Credit: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports

Prince Fielder ($4,700) boasts an impressive .345 average with 13 homers, and is facing a struggling righty in Ian Kennedy. That puts him slightly above Paul Goldschmidt ($5,200) who is facing a tougher opponent in Noah Syndergaard. Goldy does have 7 more homers and 17 more RBI than Prince though.

Josh Donaldson ($4,800) is the only other hitter besides Goldschmidt with more than 100 hits and more than 20 home runs. I love his chances against Royals lefty Danny Duffy.

J.D. Martinez ($4,900) has five homers since June 30th. With Miggy out of the lineup, Martinez is in a better position to drive in runs, and in Ervin Santana’s past life, he had a penchant for giving up dingers.

Joe Mauer ($3,900) is hitting .369 with three homers off of Justin Verlander in his career. If you want to spend more on pitching, Mauer is a great option at first base.

Matt Wieters ($3,100) is hitting .571 off of Gio Gonzalez in his career.

Ian Kinsler ($4,000) has 20 career hits off of Ervin Santana. Yoenis Cespedes ($4,400) has homered off of Santana twice in just 11 at bats.

Alex Rodriguez ($4,300) is a career .407 hitter off of Clay Buchholz. If you are looking to save money, Stephen Drew is 4 for 11 off of Buchholz with a homer for just $3,300.

Next: Early Picks And Analysis For Quaker State 400 on DraftKings

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